The city of Zagreb has signed contracts for 207 post-earthquake reconstruction projects to be financed by the EU Solidarity Fund, Mayor Tomislav Tomasevic said on Friday, the fourth anniversary of the 5.5-magnitude earthquake in the Croatian capital.

He said that 177 projects have been completed, including eight projects for the complete structural reconstruction of public buildings, and 30 projects are still ongoing.

“We are proud that we have completed about 85% of the projects. The remaining 15% are the most complex and we believe that we will complete them within a very short time. It is important that citizens can use safe, modern schools and kindergartens, that cultural and other facilities are renovated and upgraded, and that the bridges over the Sava River become safer,” Tomasevic said at a press conference.

He said he was not satisfied with the pace of construction of replacement housing in Zagreb, which is the responsibility of the central government. “This segment of reconstruction fared worse in Zagreb. We hope that the government will speed up this process, because four years after the earthquake, only a handful of replacement homes have been built.”

The mayor said that the government should have built at least 30 replacement houses. “Is it easier to restore a protected cultural monument or a school or to build a replacement home?” he asked.

When asked whether the election campaign was the reason why he had not visited the reconstruction sites today together with Construction Minister Branko Bacic, Tomasevic said that they wanted to present all the projects on the anniversary of the earthquake because there is often confusion about who is responsible for what. He added that he would visit private buildings together with Bacic, as was the case in the past.